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Just Kids |  | Author: Patti Smith
Publisher: Ecco
Category: Book
List Price: $27.00
Buy New: $14.62
as of 7/31/2010 12:14 CDT details
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Seller: BRILANTI BOOKS
Rating:  76 reviews
Sales Rank: 1660
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1ST
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 006621131X
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.42166092
EAN: 9780066211312
ASIN: 006621131X
Publication Date: January 1, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
BRAND NEW 2010 HARDBACK EDITION. SOME SHELFWEAR MARKS. OVERSTOCK MARK..
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best Books of the Month, January 2010: Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe weren't always famous, but they always thought they would be. They found each other, adrift but determined, on the streets of New York City in the late '60s and made a pact to keep each other afloat until they found their voices--or the world was ready to hear them. Lovers first and then friends as Mapplethorpe discovered he was gay, they divided their dimes between art supplies and Coney Island hot dogs. Mapplethorpe was quicker to find his metier, with a Polaroid and then a Hasselblad, but Smith was the first to fame, transformed, to her friend's delight, from a poet into a rock star. (Mapplethorpe soon became famous too--and notorious--before his death from AIDS in 1989.) Smith's memoir of their friendship, Just Kids, is tender and artful, open-eyed but surprisingly decorous, with the oracular style familiar from her anthems like "Because the Night," "Gloria," and "Dancing Barefoot" balanced by her powers of observation and memory for everyday details like the price of automat sandwiches and the shabby, welcoming fellow bohemians of the Chelsea Hotel, among whose ranks these baby Rimbauds found their way. --Tom Nissley
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 76
 Well Written but Underwhelming July 28, 2010
John Biavaschi (Brooklyn, New York)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First let me say, I'm thoroughly versed in all things Patti and Robert. Bought Horses vinyl practically the minute it came out, have all her good albums, read her work, saw her art, enthusiastically attended two out of three of concerts. Loved Robert Mapplethorpe's flower photography, and really enjoyed Patricia Morrisoe's biography "Mapplethorpe."
That said, this book felt overly-reverent and all too serious to be a tale of two kids with New York City as their playground. Tell me, where is the fun? Where is the humor? Damn, if I could find any.
Siouxie
The Bronx
 Outstanding memoir on so many levels July 27, 2010
Paul Allaer (Cincinnati)
I have been a fan of Patti Smith for many, many years, ok since "Horses" came out in 1975 (which I know dates me), but I wasn't really aware of her background, or her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, until I read this book.
In "Just Kids" (299 pages), Patti Smith brings her memoir of primarily her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, but it brings so much more, giving brief glampses of her earliest upbringings in Pennsylvania and then New Jersey, and how she finally decides to go to New York in the late 60s, where by complete happenstance she meets Robert Mapplethorp. And then the book really takes off. Mapplethrope (who passed away in 1989) has become a controversial figure (I should now, since an exhibit of his here in Cincinnati 1990 resulted in charges of obscenity--which evetually were acquited), but you get a completely different sense in Patti's tales of Robert. They lived together for a number of years and it's clear that she treasured him a lot (and still does). When the book gets into the 73/74 era, this is where it really becomes fascinating stuff for music history buffs, as we see how Patti Smith the poet slowly but surely becomes Patti Smith the rock musician. Must read for any fan of rock history.
The book has many heart-breaking moments, and Patti Smith writes the whole tale in such a respectful and loving way that I found myself turning the pages. I simply could not put this book down. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Interesting, but I was hoping for more July 18, 2010
C Richards (CA United States)
Interesting, but I didn't find it riveting. The parts about the writers and musicians who lived in the Chelsea Hotel were most interesting to me.
I wish I'd known Patti a long time ago July 18, 2010
D. Carr (Boston, MA)
I picked up Patti Smith's autobiography/biography 3 days ago and couldn't put it down. There are so many facets of the book that make it memorable, but the most electric quality is Patti's poetic, clear and honest voice. She mentions in the book that she never liked glitter and this comes through in her prose. She glorifies nothing and is direct and true, even when it makes her look less than glamorous. It is eye-opening to see her young self landing in New York without money or education and forming an amazing life and career with nothing but her belief in herself and in art. On the way, she gathers many friends and mentors, rubs shoulders with literary and rock icons, and works hard to pay the bills. I found her to be uncomplaining and uncompromising in describing her early years of poverty, hunger, joblessness, and nights on the street. It's clear that every experience was part of her education and that she rose above the ranks of many around her because of her singular vision, intelligence, and artistry.
Sometimes her descriptions of her young life are raw (she describes herself as crude) and difficult to take. The dark side of Robert Mapplethorpe, which Patti herself attests to not understanding, is especially gritty and unfathomable. It is Patti's nature to accept everyone as they are and see beyond the parts she doesn't understand, and somehow she gets the reader to do that too.
Her exchanges with Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix are so much fun to read. Her young romance with the playwright, Sam Shepard, is told with her usual unvarnished, straight-shooting style. Ultimately, Patti is a survivor. She is endlessly flexible, a trick she learned from Mapplethorpe. She forgives the universe its foibles (she has lived through a lot of tragedy) and also forgives herself. I learned something from Patti.
After you read the book, watch her perform on youtube - she's riveting.
The Story of a Friendship July 12, 2010
Loves the View (Hawaii)
Both Patti Smith and Robert Maplethorpe went to "The City" without money, contacts or a college education. It was a time when jobs, while hard to come by, could be had without a resume and one of those jobs could conceivably pay a rent. Cell phones, personal computers and the rock and roll industry had not yet been developed. It was also a time when homosexuality was not understood or discussed.
In the book Patti Smith describes how she and Robert relied on each other for survival, inspiration and companionship. As Robert discovers his sexuality and they both grow in their art they no longer live together, but still remain a part of each other. There are many touching moments in this friendship.
The book also gives the flavor or NYC before the counter culture was co-opted by corporate entertainment. Artists mixed freely without their publicists or body guards. I doubt there are many remnants of this fluid society remaining in the Big Apple.
Patti's prose reads as beautifully as her poetry. The text is wonderful. The word choices, the metaphors and the overall unwinding for the story are masterful.
All the photos, especially those by Robert, are excellent and add to the reader's appreciation of the people and the time.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in this period and place or the unique relationship of these two gifted artists.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 76
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